Reward learning with badges

Kids under the age of thirteen (13) are not allowed to create accounts on social media. Therefore, I had to look for something over and above platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. So I looked at different physical alternatives – I looked at using lanyards to show off skills, I tried wristbands, and finally I tried using one-inch buttons. Besides, a button machine does not really cost a fortune, so why not?

These buttons can be placed on backpacks. Kids hang their backpacks on the hooks and their friends and teachers can easily see the badges. So, if I am a teacher and if I am looking for a skill, I will notice the backpacks and think, “Oh, I am looking for video creation skills. This kid has earned a video badge. Why don’t I ask him to make a video about Tom Sawyer?”

So, for a successful badges program, you need something tangible. You also need a place for the badges to be displayed on. But are badges a really good idea? Well, it may not be a good idea if you are heading in the wrong direction. How? Let me give you an example. When I was a kid, my teacher used to place a chart with names of all the kids in the classroom. It had little gold stars on it for different activities done in the classroom. Contrary to my friends, I was really bad at reading out loud. They had all those stars shining next to their names while I had none. The Bottom line – I do not appreciate a concept, which I hated as a child. It is a bad idea to start a badges program to evaluate the content. I will discuss this further in the next chapter.

So what exactly is a digital badge?

A digital badge is an online image that tells people about a new skill that a kid has learned. Digital badges are cool since they have metadata, i.e. information built into a digital object. Digital badges have a lot of such information packed inside. If someone clicks on a badge, they will see:

who gave out the badge (the issuer)

who earned the badge (the collector)

when the collector earned the badge

activities the collector had to undergo to earn the badge (the criteria)

photos or videos of the project completed by the collector to earn the badge (the evidence)

We will talk about these points later in the book. In the next chapter, I will emphasize further on linking badges with skills rather than the content.

Why do I love badges?

Besides my affinity to the scouts and badges, I love the badges program because the kids want it so bad that they do most of their work for badges at home. Let that sink in for a second, my students work on their badges at home without being assigned. In my most recent informal survey of my students, I found that over 70% of the work on badges was being done at home.

My students realize that they need each other – they need to interact! Badges require teamwork as they cannot make a movie alone, animate alone, etc. No one is doing the same thing at the same time. They are all doing different things.

In my experience, badges ensure 100% engagement; there is absolutely no messing around! And if they are stuck, they can always find a classmate who has that particular badge.

It is interesting that I see girls being engaged in traditional ‘non-girl’ situations like engineering. Badges, for me, bust through all gender limitations and walls created by our society.